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The ladder of thorns in a luxurious palace

By Mohammed Rehan K., age 18 | May 9, 2017

The real and harsh truth of living in the United States is getting targeted because of your religion or ethnicity. The blatant bigotry of President Trump makes Muslims and undocumented people feel guilty for having that background.

The U.S. has a very large number of people who are from different countries all over the world. Sadly, many of them are undocumented because they do not havegreen cards or legal citizenship. Even worse is Trump’s presidency and his policies because he has vowed to build a wall (the root of the illegal entrance) on Mexico’s border. Despite being undocumented, these people’s perseverance and hard work in every field makes this country beautiful and great. However, these people don’t get the opportunities they want because they aren’t eligible due to their immigration status.

A lot of people feel hopeless in this current environment. Muslims may feel it the worst. “The worst feeling of being segregated has just recently been felt by me because of the temporary ban executed by our president, Donald Trump,” said Salah. Salah is a student at Mission High School from Yemen, one of the six countries Trump has banned. Salah and his siblings became naturalized citizens of the U.S. because they were under the age of eighteen, and their father was already a legal citizen and has stayed in the U.S. for about thirty years.

A different friend of mine has been living in the U.S. for almost four years now.Being undocumented, he feels restricted from opportunities and from the love our community has for documented immigrants. The major issue for him and his family is to survive through their situation with no support other than their own perseverance. Being a high school student, my friend works four days a week for seven hours each day, which really prevents him from getting adequate rest or finishing his school work. In addition to that, he is often frightened about running into any sort of police, who are known for deporting large groups of undocumented people, and getting targeted by Trump’s policies.

All these problems get worse for Muslim people, especially those from predominantly Muslim countries. The society has sharp eyes on Muslims by suspecting them as terrorists or as being harmful to the country. My friend Salah’s case is typical. Salah said that he and his family already knew that Trump was racist and bigoted, specifically toward Arabs and Muslims.

“My family wanted to support the people who were protesting by joining their rallies,” Salah said. “My presence in protests made them satisfied. Since we are all citizens of the U.S., my family led me to stay calm and feel free to travel. Also, my rights as a citizen make me equal to citizens of any other race or religion. I felt very proud when I saw people of color, LGBTQ, and white people protesting together to resist the ban for the people from all of the banned countries.”

But other Muslims feel insecure and directly targeted because of the president’s thinking and hate toward them. They feel fearful of being Muslims and hopeless since there is no one who can guarantee them the ability to stay and make their futures better. The reason why most Muslims move is not terrorism, but the search for a healthy and prosperous life in a wealthy and united country.

As an Indian Muslim, I live freely and happily, but my family advises me to stay safe and not stay out late at night because of my skin color. Often times people recognize me as a Latino and treat me based on my appearance. So, the overall conclusion is that Muslims all over the world are being oppressed and are treated unequally because of their religion and their clothing. And undocumented immigrants in the U.S. have not yet gotten full rights and opportunities and their quandaries are only increasing because of people like Donald Trump. True humanity does not mean seeing or making any person feel less important just because of any kind of comparison between them and other people. The mentality of a leader who believes he deserves the best in the world should not take away the rights of others.